Baseball star Juan Soto is set to sign the biggest contract in the history of professional sports, dwarfing even Cristiano Ronaldo’s astonishing Saudi Pro League contract.
The Associated Press Claim Former New York Yankees superstar Soto, now a free agent, has agreed to a record-breaking 15-year contract with their cross-city rivals, the New York Mets.
He is set to earn $765 million (£600 million) during his contract with the Major League Baseball team.
Soto’s deal is the largest and longest deal in MLB history, surpassing Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million (£548 million) 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers – which he signed last December. They went.
A four-time All-Star at the age of 26, Soto first made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2018, when he was just 19 years old.
And now he is ready to register his name in the history books as soon as he steps into New York.
Although Soto’s deal is slightly larger than Ohtani’s, it completely dwarfs the largest contracts currently offered in football.
Cristiano Ronaldo is currently the world’s highest-paid footballer, with Al Nassr giving him a three-year contract worth around £558m – that’s an astonishing £186m per season, according to daily Mail,
sky sports news report Neymar is at Al Hilal on around £129.4 million per season, up from £388 million during his three-year contract.
Meanwhile, Lionel Messi is reportedly on a relatively low salary of around $20.4m (£16m) at Inter Miami, and is on pace to make around £40m during his two-and-a-half-year contract with MLS. Club.
Soto is set to sign the biggest deal in pro sports history (Image: Getty)
Notably, Soto’s salary during his contract is less than the combined career earnings of NBA legend LeBron James and NFL superstar Tom Brady.
sports center report James and Brady made a combined $761 million (£596 million) from their salaries, which is less than Soto’s new deal.
Why are the top baseball players paid so much?
Unlike other sports in the US, MLB has no salary cap or maximum contract – allowing top players to earn higher salaries than those in the NFL, NBA and MLS.
USA Today report The baseball players union MLBPA is relatively strong compared to other major sports, which further strengthens the earning potential of its members.
Another reason given for astronomical contracts for top players is the disparity in earnings between established members of MLB squads and less experienced players – who generally earn much less.
Due to the comprehensiveness of MLB statistics, the quality of baseball players is considered more measurable than in other sports – making large contracts a less risky investment.
Meanwhile, the sheer number of games in an MLB season also results in bigger TV deals and bigger contracts for players, with each team playing 162 games in the regular season.